Funny Thing it is...........Asking!!

Today, I got a very good insight from a conversation, good enough for it to be shared.

It is something on appraisals, so I guess you may want to plough ahead.

The appraisal or the largesse bestowed upon the peasantry (you who else!) by the nobility (your boss and super boss!) is essential a function of three values.

1. Utility – See when a beggar accosts you in say a red light there is always a prop as an accessory/USP.A disfigured limp, a bawling kind, runny noses, disheveled countenance to incite the act of giving. Pity is the causality that is triggered.

Now extend the same to an organizational level. The causality you seek to incite is a combination of pity and grudging realization on the nobility of you USP a.k.a utility. 

You should have done something well, very well enough to be appreciated by the nobility. Dig into your archival system for that event(s), the more the merrier. Package those events to relate to the final outcome. In my case it is always revenues, deduce yours accordingly, (adherence to SLAs perhaps!).In essence the pitch or the positioning statements should highlight your utility to the organizations

2. Replacement – Now forget utility.

Focus on utility vis-à-vis what is not available in the market and what is required by the nobility. Nobody likes losing a prized art(one mans art is another scribble if it is of the “Modern” genre!!) possession, irrespective of whether they deserve it or not. What you ask should subtly hint at the relative value he would gain if you decided to call it quits. Say you are X you want Y which is very greater than X. But Y on a measured time frame (a couple of months to a year) will give a far greater ROI than Z cost of new resource addition. Beware; never actually talk about quting because if nobility even gets a whiff of your fluid intentions you wouldn’t get a penny. Play this replacement value card with caution

3. Relational/organizational – You are good, and you are rare (if not lets just say it is the perceived effect!).  

According to core competency matrix there is still the threat of suppliers, here by analogy the other people. No matter how confidential you keep your pay, news eventually leaks out. There are many advantages of fag with HR/admin, the biggest one is gossip. So even though you are having a high utility and a replacement value but if the relational value is low vis-à-vis colleagues and nobility, it might be a tough sale.

At the level(YUPPIE Misguided Banal Asses!), it is the first one itself that is a tough card.(methinks!).However on the flip side, utility alone is not the clincher in the rather funny art of asking. High utility low replacement is equivalent to largesse of pennies or a very efficient machine gun but only firing 1 bullet an hour when you need 2.

PS - Thanks to Chadda, who inadvertently contributed a lot(rather all of it is his only!) to this post.